A Comic Strip Illuminates a Serious Issue

Published: January 9, 2000

A NUMBER of readers have said they were confused or offended by the Jan. 2 installment of Stan Mack's Dispatches titled ''A View From Another Window.''

The cartoon strip was based on Mr. Mack's experiences during the terminal illness of his partner, Janet Bode, who had breast cancer. Mr. Mack submitted the cartoon Dec. 27. Ms. Bode, who wrote books for young adults, died Dec. 30. She was 56.

Ms. Bode had worked with Mr. Mack on earlier versions of the strip until she became too ill to continue.

Here is a sampling of letters from readers of the four regional sections that published the strip:

Can breast cancer be funny? Come to any meeting including my own organization, the Breast Cancer Connection, and I will introduce you to women who are dressed up, made up and ready to rock and roll. Do we laugh? You bet. Do some of us die? Of course, and those who do are deeply mourned. We also put that sadness and anger to positive use by fund-raising for patient projects.

Survivors wake up each day never knowing if that is the day when a lone cell that has resisted treatment will metastasize. Yet most of us live our lives with pride and dignity and the everlasting hope that tomorrow will bring a cure.

If Mr. Mack writes from personal experience, I extend my deepest sympathy. But the fact remains that he should look at those of us who walk the walk every day. We bring to each other hope and support and the sincere belief in the science that will someday save our sisters, our mothers, our daughters, our friends and the woman who is diagnosed every three minutes of the day.

Are there funny things about breast cancer? Yes, indeed. Unfortunately, Stan Mack is not one of them.

JO ANN SOKOLOFF

Wyckoff, N.J.

In an interview last week, Mr. Mack discussed his thinking in designing the strip.

''There is a world, invisible to many, of terminally ill people being cared for full time by a loving family member or friend,'' he said. ''These caregivers are living with burdens and pressures that even regular visitors can miss. For years, Janet and I have used the power and immediacy of the popular art form, the 'strip,' to illuminate serious issues. This is certainly one of them.''